title: Enhancing promotional strategies within social marketing programs: use of Web 2.0 social media.
abstract: The second generation of Internet-based applications (i.e., Web 2.0), in which users control communication, holds promise to significantly enhance promotional efforts within social marketing campaigns. Web 2.0 applications can directly engage consumers in the creative process by both producing and distributing information through collaborative writing, content sharing, social networking, social bookmarking, and syndication. Web 2.0 can also enhance the power of viral marketing by increasing the speed at which consumers share experiences and opinions with progressively larger audiences. Because of the novelty and potential effectiveness of Web 2.0, social marketers may be enticed to prematurely incorporate related applications into promotional plans. However, as strategic issues such as priority audience preferences, selection of appropriate applications, tracking and evaluation, and related costs are carefully considered, Web 2.0 will expand to allow health promotion practitioners more direct access to consumers with less dependency on traditional communication channels.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Science, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA.
authors.forename: Rosemary
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Thackeray
authors.forename: Brad L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Neiger
authors.forename: Carl L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Hanson
authors.forename: James F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: McKenzie
mesh_terms: D018672:Community Health Planning / Q000379:methods*; D003256:Community Participation; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008389:Marketing of Health Services; D016730:Program Development; D015397:Program Evaluation; D040241:Social Marketing; D014481:United States